BOSTON - A Dominican national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a heroin distribution conspiracy operating in and around Waltham.
Richard R. Fernandez, 23, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Saylor IV to time served and one year of supervised release. In September 2018, Fernandez pleaded guilty to eight counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. In March 2017, Fernandez was arrested along with three others, Jose C. Torres, Angel G. Rivera Serrano, and Luis Humberto Arias Lara.
Fernandez and his co-defendants distributed heroin in and around Waltham over the course of several months. Each of the defendants sold drugs to an undercover investigator. On March 30, 2016, law enforcement executed federal search warrants at two residences and two alleged stash houses where they seized approximately $200,000 in cash and approximately 1.5 kilograms of narcotics.
In August 2017, Arias Lara was sentenced to five months in prison. In September 2017, Rivera Serrano was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Torres pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts, made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by members of the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force, which is comprised of the Waltham, Watertown, Newton, Arlington, Belmont, Weston and Lexington Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Miranda Hooker of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
